Time for another personal comment: I have been inside a Mormon Temple. No, I am not an ex-Mormon, or a Jack Mormon, but this Gentile was inside the Dallas, Texas, temple. No big mystery. It seems that until it is dedicated, consecrated or whatevericated, a temple is just a building. They actually held an open house with guided tours. We (my family and I) saw the baptismal 'tub' (sorry to sound flippant, but I don't know how else to describe it); the Mormons believe baptism must be by immersion/submersion. There were various rooms used for whatever. Sorry I can't go into more detail, but this was about 1984, quite a few years ago. The last stop on the tour was the Celestial Room, supposedly as near to Heaven as you can get on Earth. To me it resembled a French Provincial drawing room.

I want to do some more research, then I will throw out my thoughts on Mormon rituals, and hopefully generate some further discussion.

_________________Love what you do, and do what you love. Don't listen to anyone else who tells you not to do it. -Ray Bradbury

Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it. -Robert A. Heinlein

Many people that believe in a omnipotent being, superpower, or all great creator, are peculiar. The Morman idea is quite conflicting. You have to wonder if these top guys, back then, were moonshining on the side. Possibly drunk while coming up with these silly rules and ideas. They broke every other law, I'm sure they would have had no qualms with producing alcohol and making a rule that a Morman cannot drink. Why is it that the top dogs, people believe in, break all the rules they make? Look at the God of Christians. The bible clearly states their God as the biggest divine law breaker.

I didn't know one thing about Mormonism, well, the polygamy news was widespread. I had no desire to know anything about Mormonism, but the book was interesting. Now I have one more group of people in my head that I wonder, "What the hell is wrong with these people?"

_________________"The Kennedy Half-Dollar" is an eclectic and unconventional true crime memoir.The story is about a young woman, Seely, that finds herself caught in a nightmare with the Hawaiian Mafia. Her coworker is found dead in a cane field one morning and from that point on, Seely tries to escape their clutches. After many years she is forced to face her connection.

There are songs posted throughout the chapters. Play the music while you read. It maybe hard at first, but after the second or third song, it seems strange without. I could not write without music. What isn't expressed in my words is still in the song.

The polish of the earlier chapters has disappeared and the book is just meandering around now, tossing out junk left and right. A brief discussion about the Book of Abraham, which was utterly incomprehensible until I followed the Kindle link to the essay at Kevin Mathie's site. A long pointless digression into plot outlines of Battlestar Gallactica episodes and the teen trilogy Twilight. The shocking news that some Mormons are crooks and other Mormons or sometimes the same Mormons are celebrities.

I've tried to find another book that critically examines the history and beliefs of the Mormon Church. There are plenty of histories and biographies, but I haven't stumbled across anything that deconstructs the church as this Complete Heretic's Guide does. I was hoping to find a more polished treatment. Has anyone read one they could recommend?

KayR, Fitzgerald has a large bibliography and he recommends books and web sites throughout - also check "Further Resources" section, pages 311 - 314. Frankly, after reading this book I don't want to dive much deeper...

Initially the four marks were cut into the garments during the temple initiation - so deep they would leave scars. This was abandoned after too many protests from Mormon women; now they come with the marks already stitched in.

Whaaaaat? Fitzgerald doesn't elaborate, but why would they cut the symbols into the underwear while it was being worn such that it caused bleeding and scarring? Didn't they have scissors? I s'pose the initiates put up with it as a Spiritual Tattoo?

Fitzgerald mentions a web site where you can check out authentic magic underwear (the real stuff is available only to initiates). It looks better than I expected - I could see the hunky Chris O'Connor sporting this! However checking the location of the symbols, it looks like the previous ceremony would involve cutting with a knife right into the nipple area - rather sadistic!

I think i have found an explanation for the fraud and gullibility. In this youtube video at Stanford Business School about discovering liars, the presenter talks about "in group" and "out group". Its' at about the 10th minute.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot post attachments in this forum

BookTalk.org is a thriving book discussion forum, online reading group or book club. We read and talk about both fiction and non-fiction books as a community. Our forums are open to anyone in the world. While discussing books is our passion we also have active forums for talking about poetry, short stories, writing and authors. Our general discussion forum section includes forums for discussing science, religion, philosophy, politics, history, current events, arts, entertainment and more. We hope you join us!